Russian history
Distrust and resentment have plagued Anglo-Russian relations for centuries
On a visit to England in 1556, Ivan the Terrible’s envoy alienated Londoners with his extreme suspicions – and lurid insults have been exchanged ever since
Russia’s complex relationship with the ruble
The first banknotes were greeted with deep suspicion in 1769 – but it was nothing to the distrust that Soviet and post-Soviet issues aroused
How does the Russian public view the invasion of Ukraine?
It’s not just Putin’s war, says Jade McGlynn. The mass of Telegram data shows how much the nation as a whole supports the offensive
Nothing is certain in Russia, where the past is constantly rewritten
Nothing is certain in a country where the past is constantly rewritten, says Owen Matthews
Stalin the intellectual: the dictator cast in a new light
The link between mass-murdering dictators and the gentle occupation of reading and writing books is a curious one, but it…
Why autocracy in Russia always fails in the end
Churchill was wrong: Russia is neither a riddle nor an enigma. Russians themselves concoct endless stories to glorify their country’s…
‘Mother Volga’ has always been Russia’s lifeblood
‘Without this river the Russians could not live,’ remarked Robert Bremner in his work, Excursions in the Interior of Russia.…
Small but deadly: postcards that fuelled the Russian Revolution
In this handsomely illustrated book Tobie Mathew makes a case for the lowly postcard’s role in the politicisation of pre-revolutionary…
Uncle Joe is revered in Putin’s Russia as a benevolent dictator
‘Lately, the paradoxical turns of recent Russian history… have given my research more than scholarly relevance,’ remarks Oleg Khlevniuk in…
Both lyricist and agitator: the split personality of Vladimir Mayakovsky
Why increase the number of suicides? Better to increase the output of ink! wrote Vladimir Mayakovsky in 1926 in response…
The fallen idol: seeing Putin in a new light
The way to think about Russia, Bill Browder told me in Moscow in 2004, using a comparison he recycles in…
Siberia beyond the Gulag Archipelago
Larger than Europe and the United States combined, Siberia is an enormous swathe of Russia, spanning seven time zones and…
